AdamAllen is Putting It All Together

[adamallen]

I've done a pretty decent job of keeping myself in mediocre shape over the last year or so by doing one thing or another - eating Paleo, lifting at the gym, doing a cleanse, or jogging. What I've not done well is tie these things together in a comprehensive way. So that is my overall quest for this challenge:

I will raise my fitness to a new level by caring for my health holistically.

My goals to support this are:

1. Eat primal/paleo at least 90% of the time. (CON +3)

2. Do body weight strength training at least 3x per week. (STR +4)

3. Run sprints at least 1x per week. (DEX +3)

My life quest is to get outside more so I'll also:

4.Run/walk the dog at least 4x per week. (STA +3)

Finally, since I've done challenges before (though a long time ago), I'll give myself the latitude of adding a mental fitness goal, which is:

5. Meditate 3x per week. (WIS +2)

So that's my deal. I'm prepared to push through the full six weeks. If you are too, drop me a note below.

[Phayze]

Can I pull instead?

Great goals, Adam! Putting all the big pieces together can be daunting - I've been slowly stacking most of these same things together for 6 challenges now!

[adamallen]

Got my first body weight training session in tonight. Gonna be sore tomorrow! (Hopefully not too sore...)

[Phayze]

Just think of the muscle cramps as your body giving you a hug.

[adamallen]

This muscle tightness is definitely giving me a hug but fortunately it isn't squeezing me too tightly. We'll see how Soreness Day 2 goes but I suspect I'll be OK. I took the dog for a nice speed walk today of two miles in 30 mins. I normally jog parts of it but didn't today because I was in jeans. Tomorrow I'll do my legs and core body weight exercise. Progress!

[adamallen]

Since my food is one of my goals, I thought is should get my meals for the last couple of days noted so I don't forget.

Breakfast both days was a green smoothie with almond milk and a small amount of fruit (like 6 strawberries/blackberries)

Lunch yesterday was a salad with pecan encrusted chicken and vinaigrette.

Lunch today was a salad with steak, bacon, and warm bacon vinaigrette (yum!)

Dinner last night was a salad I made at whole foods with grilled chicken and blackened salmon

Dinner tonight was Asian beef (curry sauce) with snow peas and fried rice (I know, the rice isn't very paleo)

Drinks have only been coffee (almost all decaf), tea, and water

Off to a good start...

[Mikroftt]

Glad to have you on board for this challenge!  Walking the dog is the best way to walk.  What kind of dog?  

 

I hear you on putting it all together.  I have been "fit" for years but never quite in as good of conditioning as I would like.  Recently I have started doing the Warrior program from HASFit.com.  It has really gotten me back on track for fitness and I am loving it.  Anyway, good luck with this challenge and I look forward to seeing your progress!

[adamallen]

Mikroftt,

He's a black lab mix. While he looks just like lab, I can tell you that he's mixed with something large. He weighs in at over 110 lbs. Let's just say that we both need these walks!

I appreciate the HASFit suggestion. I'm moving toward a primal-as-possible approach so I'm trying body weight workouts for the first time on this challenge. I'll be following the Basic Program from the book "You Are Your Own Gym." We'll see how that goes. Thanks for following along!

[Mikroftt]

I started with the Beginner's Body Weight Workout from the NerdFitness blog a couple of challenges ago.  Definitely was a good starting point to get back into exercising.  Black labs are my 2nd favorite dog with Huskies only beating them out by a narrow margin.  Right now my wife and I have a small yard with limited time to devote to a big dog like that so we have a small Shih Tzu - Poodle that we love.  

[Curlyfrymsu]

Mikroftt,

He's a black lab mix. While he looks just like lab, I can tell you that he's mixed with something large. He weighs in at over 110 lbs. Let's just say that we both need these walks!

I appreciate the HASFit suggestion. I'm moving toward a primal-as-possible approach so I'm trying body weight workouts for the first time on this challenge. I'll be following the Basic Program from the book "You Are Your Own Gym." We'll see how that goes. Thanks for following along!

 

I have a black lab/shepherd mix!  I definitely understand both needing the walks, my pup gets destructive if I don't exercise her enough.  My goal is to start taking her on my sprint workouts, since she loves to sprint across fields but struggles with distance running.  I, on the other hand, LOVE distance running but struggle with sprint workouts!  Maybe she can help me out.

 

Does your dog do well on leash while running? Mine tends to clothesline herself if i'm not careful

[adamallen]

Interestingly enough, he doesn't get destructive at all. He just needs exercise because he's a sleeper most of the time (my kind of dog, truth be told). He also doesn't clothesline himself. If he goes the wrong way around a pole or something, he realizes it and loops back around. Then again, all of our runs are jogging speed (6.5-7.5 mph). I've never tried to sprint with him. He's not built for sprinting. He's gasping for air on two miles of mixed walk/run.

[Curlyfrymsu]

Ohh lucky you!  I have to either do a very short run with my dog or take her on sprint/walks, she doesn't do well on longer distances.  She normally does okay on walks/runs if I have her snout lead on because it helps redirect her focus (she's a liiiiittle hyperactive), but if I just keep her on her normal leash she'll choke herself out...she never learns!

[helloandie]

Good luck to you!

[Phayze]

Hey, I'm in this club too! Mine is about 40 pounds of black lab/whippet mix, so she's totally built for speed. We've been going on half mile Sprint/jog intervals after work for a month or two now, and its really helped with the crazies.

[Curlyfrymsu]

Phayze - good to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

[Mikroftt]

How goes the first week?  The weather here has been nice for getting the dog out.  How about there?

[adamallen]

Mikroftt, thanks for checking in. I've had mediocre results on my first week but let me give the full update:

 

1. Eat primal/paleo at least 90% of the time. (CON +3)

I'm having a hard time judging "90% of the time" so I've decided to go with a more measurable goal that has similar intent. My goal will be to average under 100 grams of carbs per day. I will calculate my average at the end of each week and post it here and I'll use MyFitnessPal to log my food for this purpose. I started last Wednesday. The MyFitnessPal link is now in my signature below in case anyone is interested in the specifics of my meals. I figure that's better than giving the full details of my meals and then arbitrarily determining what 90% of Paleo is.

 

How did I do in the first week? Well, I didn't start with MyFitnessPal until Wednesday and my average for the 4 days was 100.25 grams of carbs per day (so CLOSE!) but I suspect it would have been under 100 grams if it included the first three days. I really threw that average up because we had pizza and beer on Friday night.

2. Do body weight strength training at least 3x per week. (STR +4)

I did two body weight strength training sessions last week and was pretty sore. I could have gotten a third in so I'm not giving myself a pass but I'll get at least three in this week.

3. Run sprints at least 1x per week. (DEX +3)

I didn't do this. I could offer excuses but I won't.

4.Run/walk the dog at least 4x per week. (STA +3)

I took the dog for a walk twice last week. We got a lot of rain and I've been on the road but I'm sure I could have found a way to get two more in if I'd made a greater effort.

5. Meditate 3x per week. (WIS +2)

Frankly, I completely forgot about this goal until yesterday. It's an important one though so I'll try to get my sitting sessions in this week. I need them.

 

So that's my mediocre first week. I've not lost my motivation. I've just not performed to my expectations and I'll do better this week.

 

Thanks for everyone's support!
 

[Mikroftt]

I count the pizza and beer as the 10% non-paleo so sounds like you did well on that one

 

Yeah motivation had been an issue in the past for me.  I think it comes down to priorities.  If I tell myself that something is important to me, I will do it.  But that usually means I am not doing something else.  Sometimes getting that mix right can be hard.  Can you do a walking meditation where as you walk the dog, you take some time to clear your mind and relax?  

[Phayze]

Looks like a pretty respectable first week! Nothing wrong with easing yourself into it all.

I don't know why, but I have a bad habit of forgetting to meditate, too. I found it helps to make it part of my workout cool down routine, that way it's sort of scheduled in and i don't have to hunt for time to do it.

[Phayze]

Where'd you go? No news is good news, right? Right?

Hello? Anybody out there? o_0?